The weapons and equipment withdrawal is monitored by the representatives of the OSCE special monitoring mission and the Joint Center for Ceasefire Control and Coordination in Donbas

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/. The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic has started withdrawing equipment and weapons with caliber under 100mm from the contact line in the southern Novoazovsk region, the Donetsk news agency reported on Wednesday.

Some 10 tanks are expected to be pulled back on Wednesday in the "southern direction," the DPR defense ministry said earlier.

The weapons and equipment withdrawal is monitored by the representatives of the OSCE special monitoring mission and the Joint Center for Ceasefire Control and Coordination (JCCC) in Donbas.

On Tuesday, the DPR forces began withdrawing weapons envisaged by the Minsk peace deal in the Debaltsevo direction.

At the meeting on September 29, the Contact Group for settlement in Ukraine initialed a document on withdrawing weapons with caliber under 100mm and tanks to 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) from the contact line in Donbas.

A day later, the agreement was signed by the heads of the Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, Igor Plotnitsky and Alexander Zakharchenko. The weapons withdrawal is due to be held in two stages.